Requiem For A Dream
by Evelette
Summary: Insanity, or so it seemed would sustain the littlest Uchiha for the rest of his employed days. A psychiatrist despite his cold exterior and a damn fine one at that, until he discovers what might possibly be the most complex case in his young life and it comes in the form of a bombshell blonde with a killer crooked grin. Sasunaru


21 Years Ago.

It was beautiful here. His favorite place. No hatred, no anger, no sadness, no sympathy. Here he was blissfully unaware and unabashedly free. Something a thousand times softer than silk glided across tanned flesh but he dared not open his eyes, Blonde hair was ruffled affectionately, the barest hint of a kiss was placed upon his cheekbone, a whisper of love, a murmur of silence and he smiled, his body coiling further into himself. Laughter, whimsical, soft, it echoed around him, the same something coiling around his left calf, the double stimulation sending goose bumps shivering across his flesh. It grew suddenly warm, dispelling the chill of delight, this glory, this absolute beauty had assuaged even the goose bumps that had littered his flesh. Safe, he was safe in this trick of utter beauty, of utter peace. Hesitantly, bright blue eyes flickered open.

His father lay a mangled corpse, his dying, echoing screams of utter agony still ringing in the stagnant air. His right leg had been shredded, long gashes that revealed the glistening ivory of the bone beneath. His belly was gutted, intestines wrapped around his throat and tied like a macabre noose. Bloody gashes had shattered his ribs and had torn into his left lung lobe, his left arm, was simply missing. The baby giggled incessantly, its eyes never straying to the corpse of his father. His mother lay closer, Her right arm, a bloodied, wicked stump, destroyed by the piercing blades of the garbage disposal. Blood trickled down her inner thighs, her legs broken and laid out in odd angles, Her hair was sliced, face ripped apart, thick gashes had torn through her cheeks and chipped her teeth. Her rib cage was cracked open, shrapnel of bone and extra bits of flesh draped over her bare breasts. Her still heart lay exposed to the elements, slowly shriveling as the blood began to harden. The infant giggled, shakily wobbling to its plump legs and using all of his concentration, approached the edge of the crib, fingers coiling around the bars animatedly.

The gruesome corpses were paid no heed. The child's own flesh and blood forgotten, abandoned, the innocent gaze was focused on the ceiling, excited babble fleeing from the blondes mouth as he scrambled and reached for... something. He giggled excitedly, fingers reaching, coiling, he was injured, six long slashes adorning perfectly plump cheeks, the babe didn't seem to notice the pain. Something brushed against his back and he giggled sporadically, attempting to turn only to fall when his new legs couldn't yet support him. He babbled happily as cerulean blues met the darkest of onyx. His fingers clenched animatedly, reaching for the figure before him. "Up!...Up!...Up!"

A deep baritone hum swirled through the air and the infant fell silent, his unrelenting rant of the mono-syllabic word falling still as that sinfully soft thing encompassed his entire body. Chubby fingers sunk into it, a happy giggle loosing itself in the texture, there was a momentary pause and the child was lifted from his crib, vanishing, just in time to avoid the sound of heavy sirens slicing through the air.

Present Day.

"Mr. Uchiha, I'm glad you've decided upon our hospital as your source of work, but I'm a bit skeptical." The elders voice was strong, but soft, as if he genuinely cared about every last syllable that fled his aging mouth, the raven perched across from him, answered with a resounding grunt, the only clue that let the old man know that he had been listening. "Your transcripts and your qualifications well exceed what we require. It's amazing all that you've managed to accomplish in such a short time, graduating from your high school almost three years early, graduating two semesters early with a Masters in Philosophy, Theology, Science in Nursing, and with a full PHD in psychological care... I highly doubt we need to see much more to hire you on." Rapping the papers firmly against the desk, he set them aside. "But therein lies my skepticism. We do little more than tend to patients that need psychiatric care, basic medications, physical activities, a bit of psychology, our therapists are mainly a familiar face to be seen and talked too, many of our patients will never even be considered to see the light of freedom and a man with your credentials could work in a much larger, high tech, better payroll facility...why here?"

"I thrive well with a challenge." The words were simple, monotone and the old man nodded absently, put off slightly by the almost dismissive attitude. He scratched at the stubble on his chin absently, before leaning back in his chair contemplating his next move thoughtfully, he doubted he would get much more from the dark haired male. A soft hum vibrated up through his vocal cords and with a soft sigh he slid forward. "I don't doubt your talents Mr. Uchiha, and with all of these transcripts and some of these recommendations... I would like to put you to the test." The elder watched surprise flicker through the dark eyes of the male before him as the slightest of smirks pulled at the corners of his mouth an almost imperceptible nod of the head was given. "I will offer you a full time position, benefits paid in full if you can help our most... intriguing patient." He paused here a moment but for the first time since the raven had entered his office, dark eyes gleamed in excitement. Repressed, of course, but still there.

"We have many lifelong patients here, with a many sort of problems ranging from schizophrenia to dissociative personality disorders, some are here short term, court mandated, and some come simply for psyche evaluations to determine whether or not they are safe amongst the public, but there is one case we have here that has never...lasted... amongst psychiatrist supervision. Not one of my staff have ever been able to dig beneath his surface to the root of the problem and some of these doctors have diagnosed some of the most complex cases... but not him. He's been here since the tender age of five. He just turned twenty-two four days ago. Incredibly intelligent, remarkably bright and able to read our best psychologists like an open book, and he has a tendency of breaking the very best of us, a few of my best psychologists gave up after only a few weeks with the lad and now work in separate occupations. If you are willing, I would love to put your papers to the test." The old man had a twinkle to his eyes but the underlying tone of utter seriousness told the raven this was no jest. Another casual incline of his head urged the elder to continue and with a grin that border lined creepy he did just that, clasping his hand together he rose from his desk, shuffling over to the tank of what appeared to be regular goldfish and sprinkling in a bit of food.

"His name is Naruto Uzumaki." The sudden intake of breath from the raven told him that even the youth had heard the name whispered. "Yes... the same from the massacre. Twenty-one years ago... give or take a few months, his family was slaughtered in one of the most grotesque killings to date, his parents were ripped to pieces, shredded chunks of flesh and bone. The baby, Naruto was gone. We had assumed it was a kidnapping and for weeks police tried to find any leads on a kidnapper, but even after Kyuubi was brought to trial, the man who massacred the family, when Naruto's name was brought up, he completely shut down, face losing all color, and damn near trembling on the stand... keep in mind that Kyuubi is a serial killer wanted in eight states, not the kind of person to be rattled easily, whatever he saw he took with him to the grave. He never uttered a word about Naruto, not even in his final moments. Nearly five year later and shortly after what would have been his fifth birthday, Naruto turned up. Six prominent scars across his cheeks that had long since healed but otherwise perfectly healthy. Swinging innocently on a park bench as if such a thing were entirely normal. He was well fed, cared for, clean clothes... we never discovered who took care of him and whenever you ask, he tilts his head just so to the left and smiles. " He paused here for only a moment. "It was decided early that he would be told the truth about his parents but only partial, only what was necessary. It was clear right from the beginning that he was remarkably bright for a boy his age, but his foster homes started noticing odd behaviors. He would stare at the ceiling, the wall, the floor for hours. He would occassionally giggle, fall, laugh, speak, but his eyes would always drift to the same spot, talking at things that were never there. It was diagnosed as an imaginary companion, but overtime these periods grew longer, more lengthy, until eventually he withdrew himself from society completely. Unwilling to speak or cooperate with anyone aside from his imaginary friend, he was brought here for a psyche evaluation and diagnosed as unstable." The elder finished with a flourish and a single dark eyebrow raised before the raven spoke.

"As lovely as that trip down memory lane was, he would be much too young to recall such a trauma, the psychosis of the false imagery of a companion must have been contributed by something else. A bad foster home perhaps? A lousy orphanage? Or perhaps the five years spent in purgatory, obviously someone cared for him, but that dosen't mean they didn't demand some sort of traumatic experience in return." The raven inquired, wondering if any of the previous so-called "doctors" had ever barked up such a tree, his potential boss chuckled, slowly teetering back over to his over-used leather arm chair. He folded his hands together and rested his chin a top them.

"Ah... that's what we thought too and while we dont know what he experienced during those lonely years once we did find him he was placed in one of the best orphanages money can buy, and from what I'm told, he was rather the life of the daycare even with his young countenance, interviews with the counselors and a personal trip to the orphanage proved them right. We pursued other possibilities but to one of his psychologists, Naruto spoke of his parents death in detail that was... unsettling to say the least, writings that were scribbled in the coroner's report and nowhere else. We think we get a lead on him and he follows it right into the grave, almost toying with us. Perhaps one of my staff tipped him off, I don't know."The old man grunted, obviously irked with such mockery.

"Corruption in your ranks? Are you sure you should divulge such information to a potential new hire? It doesn't make your facility seem very promising." The flat response came quick and to the point and the elder ran a hand through his hair, sighing softly before he stood up and offered the man a smile on his hand.

"Well considering I've all but hired you, if you think you can handle our relative oddity, I believe you will soon be a part of my corruption, do we have an accord?" He waited only a moment as The Uchiha rose to shake his hand, an almost feral grin twisting the old man's mouth at Sasuke's easy compliance.

"I have one more inquiry." Sasuke's smooth baritones drifted from his throat with ease and the director nodded. Motioning for him to speak. "This imaginary creation that hes made, does he call it by any name?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed and the psychologist smiled slightly.

"He never admits to it, he clamps up and plays dumb. The only time he has ever slipped up, was a day two of our nurses accidently overdosed him on a sedative... and the only hint he gave that he sees anything at all, was a simple reference to "her" but even with the heavy sedatives, as soon as we tried to pry deeper, he glared with enough fury to damn us all with a gaze and completely shut down." The director rose and without another word he sunk into his chair and motioned towards the door. "If theres no more questions, its the seventh door on the right, Ill have someone drag Naruto up... no time like the present ne?"

The straight jacket he currently adorned, hugged him tight, dirty, long blonde locks gathered at his shoulders, curling only slightly at the ends. His posture was unmoving, still and completely immobile. A whisper, a caress, the barest hint of words across his flesh and a smile tugged at Naruto's mouth, grin pulling into a crooked smile, her presence instantaneously soothed and relaxed him. "_A chance reborn, a chance regained, a new psychiatrist awaits this day."_ He shivered as he felt her touch, the gentle click of one of the buckles on his straight jacket and the boy came to life, freeing himself from the confining buckles in a matter of seconds. The garment dropped to the floor, leaving nothing but a simple pair of light blue boxers adorning his body and Naruto rolled his shoulders, cracking his shoulders back into place along with his spine. His confidence seeming to falter, he turned to look at her. Her smile was genuine, gentle...absolutely beautiful. Her arms amongst other things reached for him and he went to her willingly, crawling up the bed and collapsing into her sinfully soft embrace. A lullaby the likes of which he would never forget, haunted and filled with sadness filtered across his ear drums like an old friend. The only comfort he had ever felt.

He heard the locks on his door begin to click open and he buried his face into the velvety softness that embraced him with such loving adoration, why couldn't they leave him be? He had never wanted to be here. Only...forever... with her. "_Sweet love of mine awake and face the day, tonight you dine in hellish delight, another you must slay."_ Her voice was intoxicating, so soft, so whimsical, whispering across his flesh with the sweetest of melodies. The final click on his door and his eyes cracked open, watching the nurse draw breath as she noticed the discarded straight jacket, he rose from the bed and the embrace that so greatly beckoned him too return and slowly he walked towards the woman. "Hello Hinata, beautiful day is it not?" The boxer-clad blonde dipped his head in silent greeting and she gaped at his lack of dress. " Room 1734 right?" The blonde glanced back over his shoulder and she grinned, poised like the gorgeous thing she was. He grinned at her, a soft giggle leaving his lips as he started down the hallway. Hinata starred into the utterly empty room with something akin to astonishment. Robotically she picked up the dismantled straight jacket. Just what was it that he saw?


End file.
